The Last Kiss
by AngeloftheMorning1978
Summary: After the events of 'Girl Trouble' Selina is stricken with a strange toxin that Ivy created in her lab. Batman must try and find an antidote before he loses her forever. Takes place after "Shelter From the Storm" and "Girl Trouble".
1. Chapter 1

**The Last Kiss**

**After the events of 'Girl Trouble' Selina is stricken with a strange toxin that Ivy created up in her lab. Batman must try and find an antidote before he loses her forever. Takes place after "Shelter From the Storm" and "Girl Trouble".**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Batman or Gotham. **

~ The drive into the city wasn't an easy one. Gotham was well known for it's historic traffic jams and the odyssey of getting Selina to the hospital in the driving rain would forever infuriate Bruce. He could do little more than hold Selina up in the back seat. Her body seemed to have weakened from whatever it was she had been poisoned with.

The rain made everything slower and Alfred, normally very respectful to other drivers, was quick to succumb to road rage.

Finally, the beacon of hope appeared in the form of the towering pillar of Gotham Medical Center. If Selina could be helped, she was being taken to the right place. Alfred pulled into the ambulance bay as is he owned it, and waved to nearby orderlies.

"This woman needs help!" he shouted in a gruff voice.

Alfred pulled Bruce aside just as he was about to lift Selina out of the car.

"Sir." the butler said calmly. "I need to be the one to take Miss Kyle inside. Alone."

Bruce pushed back the errant hair that had fallen over Selina's face. She was having trouble breathing now. Her breaths coming in short, asthmatic gasps.

"What? Why?" Bruce barked.

Alfred's words were careful and hushed so Selina wouldn't overhear.

"If you bring her in, sir, you will be recognized as Bruce Wayne. Those vultures at the gossip rags are already hunting for a picture of you two. If they find that strange toxin in her system and manage to link it to that Ivy person, how long before Gordon traces it back to you? Your secret would be out, sir. I need to be the one to take Miss Kyle to the hospital. I can say she's my niece."

"Alfred, I destroyed Ivy's lab and now she's in the wind. I have no idea what Selina has been dosed with." he whispered guiltily.

"You have the samples." Alfred offered as the pair of orderlies came out to the ambulance bay with a stretcher. "Perhaps the antidote is among them. Now, get in the car and don't let anyone see you." Bruce didn't like the idea of leaving Selina. She seemed so helpless just now. He knelt down before her and saw her gaze was unfocused and lost.

"Selina?" he whispered.  
"Everything's dancing." she whimpered.

Bruce saw her face was still bright red and burning hot to the touch. Her eyes still milky from whatever was in Ivy's booby trap.

Bruce felt his head was spinning. He had taken on too much in his role as Batman. If he hadn't decide to play hero, Selina wouldn't be dying now.  
"I'll take Miss Kyle inside." Alfred said calmly. "You take the car back to that fancy computer of yours and figure out what's happening."

Bruce nodded and pried Selina's hands off him.  
"You have to go with Alfred." Bruce whispered.  
"What's happening? Bruce?" she gasped sadly.

Bruce was quick to jump into the driver's seat before the orderlies spotted him. Alfred taking over the burden of Selina's care. He watched is friend explain that she might have some kind of drug overdoes and saw Selina being wheeled away on the stretcher to get real help.

Bruce felt a pain go off in his chest that he couldn't follow.

~ "It wasn't my fault!" Ivy said hotly. "Cat backed out at the last second, and everything went to hell."

Harvey Dent stared absentmindedly at an episode of Doctor Who on an old fashioned TV. His befuddled mind trying to make sense of the plot.

"How convenient Fish didn't make it out with you." Jonathan Crane said. He never raised his voice, but Ivy felt herself shudder at the tone. There was something so unnatural about her classmate Jonathan Crane. He was a genius, no doubt, but when she looked into his eyes, she saw nothing was there. It was like he was a ghost.

"I suppose I should thank you for the vaccine you gave me to our toxin." Ivy said sarcastically. "Made things more convenient when the time came."

"_Our_ toxin?" Crane huffed. He finished sorting out samples and putting them neatly under microscope glass.

"That hallucinogen was my father's work, Miss Pepper." Crane reminded her.

"Yes, and it was unstable until I came along." she said smartly.

Crane looked at her with those horrible dead eyes of his.

"I take it you're here because of some misguided retribution?" he asked lazily. "Perhaps you seek vengeance on the menace and your old friend."  
"That freak destroyed my lab, Jonathan." Ivy hissed. Her eyes growing wide at the pure hatred she had for Selina right now. "All my research, all my supplies and all my plants. I can't produce more of our hallucinogen or toxin until I can regrow them. It will take months and we don't have months or the facilities."

"No one can grow the required plants better than you." Crane admitted. "It's troublesome that Gotham has so few green houses."

His voice was so indifferent to the desperate situation, Ivy became incensed.

"Crane, Dent won't be under my control much longer. A week at most and I have no means to reproduce the lipstick I used." she said.

"That would be troublesome, if it affected me in anyway." he said coldly.

"If I'm arrested, I will tell them all about you. All you're little experiments with our classmates. Stimulating their fear responses so they are too afraid to even go to class anymore. How we worked together to make the toxin and how Fish funded us." Ivy threatened.  
"You think I'm scared of you?" Jonathan said with a particularly horrible grin.

Ivy took a step back. There was a lot about Crane that scared her, and she never scared easily.

"I've had monsters coming to get me for years, my dear." Crane said lazily. "Nothing scares me anymore."

~ Bruce had no choice but to drive back home. He had to find out what was so special about Ivy's work and what it was that Selina was sprayed with. Best case scenario, it was on her laptop as well as a quick fix, worse case, it was a guessing game.

Selina's black cat was waiting for him in the cave when he got there. They stared at each other as though both offended by the other one's presence.  
"I won't bother to ask how you got in here." Bruce said to the cat.

The black cat, interested, hoped up near the key board and watched him as if to help.

The super computer was capable of breaking down a simple laptop in seconds. All it took was the right command and it sorted Ivy's research into neat little piles.

Bruce typed '_antidote_' into the laptop's search engine and came up empty. He typed _'booby trap_', '_hallucinogen_' and '_toxin_' and found nothing that would help him.

"Ivy must use code words. Very clever." Bruce said to the black cat who only meowed back at him.

There were detailed plans of chemicals Ivy was working on. But they were like another language to him. He wasn't as good at chemistry as he would like. Ivy was a genius at the craft apparently. Her math skills were way beyond his as well. Formulating an antidote on his own would be beyond his powers.  
"I don't have the proper facilities to find out what's in these canisters." he told the cat. "Lucius Fox might have to help."

The black cat looked at him curiously.

"Don't give me that look." Bruce said to the animal.

~ Selina couldn't keep the nightmares at bay. They come for her as though they were some terrible army. They knew what scared her and they were coming. She could feel hands with longer fingers pulling on her hospital gown. Hands as cold as ice were crawling up her skin.

She shut her eyes and still saw them coming for her. Their eyes were burning like fire.  
"Selina!" they called to her in a merry voice.

"No." Selina moaned.

She could feel the creatures in bed with her now. Their limbs boney and she could feel their sharp claws cutting on her.

~ Alfred watched Miss Kyle let out a blood curdling scream from her bed.

A nurse was quick to help her, but the poor girl cried pitifully that something was attacking her.

He had never seen Miss Kyle like this before. It was enough to worry him.

"You said your niece was exposed to some kind of drug overdose?" the doctor asked skeptically.  
"I'm not sure what caused this, sir." Alfred said primly.

"We'll have to do a blood panel and find out what she took." the doctor sighed. "It might be that new designer drug all the kids are buying."

"Can't we give her something to calm her?" Alfred asked. Two nurses were trying to keep Selina from tearing at her own skin.  
"Not until we know what's she's taken." the doctor said bitterly. "I've never seen a reaction like this before."

~ Gordon let out a loud sigh when Dent's voicemail picked up again.  
"Harvey, you asshole, this is Jim. Call me back. We need to discuss this Ivy Pepper situation. You dismiss all charges after I gave you a perfect case and then you run off with her? You need to call me back!" he growled into the phone.

Gordon pushed end to hang up the cell phone and regretted it wasn't as satisfying at hanging up and old fashioned phone. He was angry at the world just now.

With the discovery of the red triangle gang's hub of drugs and money, the feds had descended on the Narrows and were pushing Gordon out. There were wild rumors about the masked vigilante being responsible for the distraction of Old Gotham Prime and Penguin was now MIA.

Penguin would turn up eventually. Bad pennies always did. What really troubled him was Ivy Pepper and her sudden release from what was supposed to be an air tight charge of accessory to a felony drug charge.

What was Harvey thinking? Ivy kissed him and proclaimed her innocence and the fold decided to drop all charges? Then, it was like Harvey was her lap dog. He followed her out of his office after the press conference and drove away with her.

What was happening in Gotham?

**Sorry for such a long absence. Work Sucks! It takes up all my free time. If I could make a living out of writing fan fiction, I would be one rich bitch. **


	2. Chapter 2

2.

~ Lucius Fox was no stranger to being the black sheep of Wayne enterprises. He had always struck people as different, ever since he was young. Bruce Wayne would say he had an old soul, but Lucius attributed his mannerisms to being raised by his grandparents. They were old fashioned and very mild. He never remembered them raising their voices to him, or getting upset.

Lucius had lived in a home of soft words and he was never able to shake off the harshness of Gotham City. The city looked so promising in the right light, but he now saw the ugliness that surfaced once you go too close. He longed for a life that only existed in memories, or perhaps, never existed at all.

"Hiraeth." Lucius muttered to himself. The desire for a time or place that perhaps wasn't real. Yet, one still believed it once it existed.

He ran his fingers over paper worn smooth by age and the oils of human skin. It was an old library book he had checked out to read on his lunch hour. Lucius read a book a day, even when he was graduate school. His mind never learned how to be satiated, and needed so much looking after.

He ate lunch in his office alone. His meal a simple ham sandwich with cheese, lettuce and tomato. His doctor advised him to reduce his sodium, so no more potato chips. He had to make do with crackers and bottled water. He always brought his lunch to work as if he were a poor man. Another thing that sat him apart from the other associates of the company. Even if he didn't set his food out on a crop linen napkin on his desk, he was always within, and without.

It was raining and he was enjoying this book. It was about the civil war in China and it pleased him to be momentarily transported to a simpler world. A place where they only thing you had to worry about were vicious war lords building an army to attack you.

Then again, perhaps Gotham was no different.

"Lucius?"

A breathless and urgent voice interrupted his world.

Lucius Fox didn't even have to look up to know it was Bruce Wayne. The young man was always in some kind of trouble.

Lucius carefully marked his place and put his book down before looking up at Mr. Wayne.  
"Sorry to bother you." Bruce said politely. The two men acknowledging that they were raised with decent manners.

"Quite alright." Lucius said kindly. "You know my door is always open to you, Mr. Wayne."

"I was hoping your lab would also be as obliging." Bruce said.

Lucius didn't understand, and instead looked for clues.

Bruce Wayne, always immaculately dressed when he came to Wayne Enterprises, was wearing tan slacks and a T-shirt with a sweater casually thrown on in haste. It wasn't the normal rich person casual look either, more like the young man had dressed haphazardly. Also, Bruce's pants were soaking wet from the knees down. Most unusual for his normally fastidious friend.

"Certainly." Lucius said calmly. "I think I have a change of clothes in my closet."

~ "Am I to assume this is the same young lady the gossip magazines are reporting on you with?" Lucius asked as both he and Bruce took the stairs to the lab. Lucius never took the elevator with Bruce. Too much of a chance of bing overheard. Instead, they took the public stairs which were wide and open. No one could hear exactly what they were saying because there was far too much interference from other people around them.

"Selina." Bruce said sadly. "You've met her."

"So, it's not Miss Vale that we're concerned about." Lucius said simply. He didn't like to interfere with Bruce's personal life, but he might have to start keeping notes in case he missed something.  
"She was exposed to some kind of chemical." Bruce said in a hushed whisper once they were swept past security.  
"Symptoms?" Lucius asked. His curiosity was peaked.

"Fever, dizziness and her eyes." Bruce looked upset. "They went… grey."

"Could she still see?" Lucius asked him. He looked over the canister Bruce had handed him. His young friend having the foresight to seal it in plastic so there was no chance of accidental discharge.

"Yes, but I think there might have been a hallucinogen added to it. The person behind the booby trap had used them before. You're men will need full hazmat suits." Bruce said.

They had reached the lab where Lucius hid all the computer and chemical geniuses from the rest of the board. No one in Gotham knew what was being cooked up just a few miles below Wayne Enterprises Tower. A think tank that could do anything from build a better mouse trap, to crating an EMP large enough to knock out power to North America for the next decade.

"Hopefully, any hallucinogen is just an LSD like compound. Drugs like that go into the system and cause a cascade effect on the brain. They are out of the system rapidly, but the brain often remembers them. Hence the so called flashbacks people have." Lucius said. He handed the canister to one of his lab techs.  
"Complete scan. I want a break down of all ingredients. Full hazmat and ventilation purge." he ordered calmly.

The tech, a fresh out of college young man, eagerly took the canister.

"What about the fever?" Bruce asked.  
"It wouldn't be uncommon for body temperature to rise while experiencing the effects of the drug." Lucius said in his calm, gentlemanly way.  
"Fever. Wouldn't that indicate infection?" Bruce asked worriedly.

"Not always. And not if she was exposed in the way you say. The incubation period of any virus, man made or not is a few days, not hours." Lucius said. "Our bodies become warmer for all sorts of reasons. Running, laughing… sexual arousal."

He said that last part with a knowing look at Bruce.

"You sound like Alfred." Bruce sighed.  
"Yes, I know." Lucius chuckled. "Mr. Pennyworth and I get together on Thursdays and discuss ways to antagonize you."

He waved Bruce into a small office.

"The tests will take a few hours before we can see any results. Why don't we wait here?" he offered.

Bruce took a seat next to his friend in the comfortable, but still medical like office.

"How is Miss Kyle?" Lucius asked in that same gentle voice he often used.

"Alfred took her to the hospital this morning. He checked her in under an assumed name in case the drug was traced back to Ivy." Bruce told him.  
"You said this Ivy person was released this morning?" Lucius asked.

Bruce nodded.  
"I think Ivy has Dent under some kind of mind control. Selina said she had been exposed to a hallucinogen that Ivy made. It might be possible that this woman has drugged the DA and convinced him to let her go." Bruce explained.

Lucius looked thoughtful.  
"Drugged or she must have remarkable feminine wiles." he said. "The kind of mind control drugs you're talking about is nothing new. The CIA has been experimenting with them since the cold war. Some of them were created right here at Wayne Enterprises.

Bruce nodded. The family legacy continued.

"Not to worry, Mr. Wayne." Lucius said kindly. "If there is an antidote to be found. Our boys will find it."

~ "Ivy?" croaked Dent from the back seat of the white Rolls.

Ivy sighed and looked back at her long suffering hostage. The lipstick was wearing off and so was her patience for Dent's constant need for attention.

"Darling, I'm sorry, but I've got work to do." she said with slight irritation.

Jonathan was sitting in the passenger side of the car and clutched his briefcase tightly to his chest. He having to be driven anywhere and he never learned to drive himself. Personal reasons. Ivy pulled to a stop and hopped out.

He watched her open the back door and pull Harvey out. Recklessly letting him roll into the dirty ally near a bar.

Scenes of such violence never bothered Crane. It often felt to him that life was like watching television or a movie. It never touched him, and he couldn't be touched by it. Indeed, the people in the daylight ignored him like he wasn't there at all. As if he were only an audience to their lives.

The same went for the creatures that came out at night.

"Oh, what a chore!" Ivy lamented as she climbed back into the fancy car. Jonathan noted her sparkly high heels and wondered how she could drive in them. He liked Ivy, she was amusing to him.

"What do we do now?" she huffed once they had abandoned Dent and were merged in traffic once more.  
"You said you needed more of your little 'darlings' to complete the next phase of the compound." Jonathan reminded her. He didn't like to be spoken to. He didn't like to have to say anything.

"Where?" Ivy barked. "You said so yourself that there aren't anymore greenhouses in Gotham."

"I said that it was troublesome that Gotham has so few greenhouses. There are still avenues we can explore." he said. "But I'm sure we will run into difficulties in obtaining samples form these places."

"Where?" Ivy hissed.

~ Selina saw no one in the room with her. The nurses and doctors had dissolved into blob like orbs of white. Their voices being drowned out and becoming like a strange language.

She closed her eyes and tried to think of happy things. Tried to remind herself to be strong.

"Selina?" a child's voice pulled her out of her own mind.

Selina opened her eyes to see herself looking back at her. Not herself exactly, but the self she once knew just a few years ago.

The girl who was barely a teenager was streetwise, strong and very clever. She looked at her older self with contempt.  
"Look whats happened to you." the younger Selina said.

Selina cringed and didn't understand.  
"You're so pathetic! You used to be a bad ass!" young Selina snapped. "You used to pull a knife on street thugs and didn't give a shit about anyone. Now Bruce has you all pampered and kept. It's made you weak."

"I'm not… I'm not weak." Selina whimpered.  
"Yes, you are!" Young Selina shouted. "What happened to the girl who pushed that guy out of a window for messing with your friend? What happened to the girl who didn't take crap from anyone? You let Bruce put you up in a swanky apartment and you've forgotten how to survive. No wonder Ivy got the best of you. Then, to make it worse, you begged that freak to help you."

"I do what I have to do. I survive." Selina said weakly. "I'm still strong."

"You are weak." Young Selina said. Her words were like knives in Selina's heart. "You dream about living with Bruce in his castle? You always dreamed of him being your real prince, didn't you? You and I both know he would change you. Turn you into some high society bitch and then turn you out for a younger girl."

"He… he loves me." Selina whispered.

Young Selina grinned maliciously. The younger version of herself looking so evil.

~ Alfred ran a hand over Selina's hair and tried to sooth the poor young woman.

"Bruce." she whimpered sadly. "He loves me. He's always loved me."

"Of course he does." Alfred whispered. "No more of that kind of talk."

Selina wept silently and Alfred knew she was beyond hearing him.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

~ Lucius Fox's face was perfectly calm as he read over the toxin's break down the lab handed in.

"I've seen this before." he said at last.

"Where?" Bruce asked hopefully.

The two of them had been enjoying a break from the world inside the small world of R&amp;D Lucius had created. It was like being in a toy store for adults. One where Bruce, for a little while at least, could forget about his worries. Already, he had several ideas on how to improve the car he used on patrols.

"A few years ago, Wayne Enterprises hired a brilliant student intern for our pharmaceutical research. He had made interesting discoveries that seemed well beyond his age and education involving treatment for schizophrenia and other degenerative neurological disorders." Fox explained carefully.  
"I take it he's not here anymore." Bruce sighed.  
"No." Fox said. "For good reason. It turns out the work he presented as his own was in fact his father's illicit and deadly research performed on innocent people whom he eventually murdered. He was fired from his internship and expelled from the university."

"Who is it?" Bruce demanded.

"A phycology student. Jonathan Crane." Fox said.

~ Crane loved reality shows. The more outlandish, the more he loved it. When he was in the hospital, just after his father was killed, he would lose himself for hours watching television. The nurses let him because he had a habit of closing off the rest of the world when the TV was on. It was the only time he wasn't screaming back then. The only time when the monsters didn't come out and try to rip his skin off.

He particularly loved the unstable people on these shows. Their whining complaints, their over privileged lives, their outrageous behavior. Crane was almost grateful he wasn't a real doctor. He would have laughed in their faces if he was forced to help these wretched people. He clutched his briefcase to his chest and ignored the rest of the world as he watched the flat screen in the lobby. It was night and the building was silent and locked up. All the tourists had left and they were all alone.  
"Jonathan?" Ivy barked.

Crane was pulled away from the family drama to see Ivy with the night guard to the botanical gardens by her side.

The poor man was older, greying hair, and looked a little befuddled. Ivy's red lipstick still on his cheek and his eyes were glazed over slightly.

"Will here is going to let us in." Ivy said pleasantly.

Crane was on his feet quickly and pushed his long hair out of his face.

"Good. That's good to know." he said.

"There's an old store room." Will the night guard said in a trance like voice. "You can use that for your work."

Ivy pushed poor Will aside.  
"They have everything I need. I'll just send the guard out to collect everything else." she said in a hostile voice.

Crane followed Ivy out of the lobby and into the impressive display gardens of Gotham Botanical Preserve. It was beautiful here. Even at night.

The massive glass dome was the pride of Gotham's restoration projects and was designed to house all of the most exotic plants in the world. Over their heads was a clear and starry night, a strange thing in Gotham. The glass dome of the gardens helped to let in more light and even fresh air when the panels were open.

Weddings were held here by the hundreds and school tours were even more popular than the Gotham zoo.

Ivy ignored the sight of wall to wall greenery and set up her new laptop beside the dedication block in the center.

"Lucky for us I remember most of my formulas." Ivy said. "You get started on the base work, Jonathan."

Crane tore his gaze away from the plants, meant only for show and looked at her.  
"Are you planning on using this on your little friend?" he asked.  
"Former friend, and yes." Ivy said scathingly.  
"I thought our efforts were geared to the creature. The batman." he said and plucked a single red rose. He smelled the fragrance of it and wondered what Ivy would do if he gave it to her.  
"Leave the plants alone, Crane." Ivy hissed. "We have work to do."

~ Selina was haunted with dreams. Her life flashing before her eyes. When had it all turned so wrong? Her body felt restless when her nightmares finally pulled her back to the real world.

She opened her eyes to an empty hospital room. It was dark and she could see the nurses station across a glass window.

Her mind felt drugged, but she could make out the letters ICU on the glass. She tried to sit up, but pain and stiffness radiated through her legs and arms at any movement.

'_Keep going_.' the girl she once was snapped at her.

Selina breathed in and let out a long breath before managing to sit up. The nurses station was deserted and still. She could hear them though. Hear them talking in another room down the hall.

She strained her ears and could hear them discussing a patient who was in cardiac arrest. She could hear three distinct voices talking and hear machines going off as though they were in the same room with her.

It wasn't too loud or intrusive. She just focused on them, and they became clearer.

Selina blocked out the voices of the nurses and they faded into white noise at will.

She looked around the nurses station and found her vision had improved to. Everything was sharp and clear. As if her eyes had suddenly turned into high definition. She could read charts from across the room in perfect detail.

"Interesting." she muttered.

Now that she was walking around, she felt remarkably better. Her body felt like a well oiled machine. A natural high she only got from jumping off rooftops. She felt great, she felt… invincible.

She flexed her bare feet on the cold floor and wondered how high she could jump. How fast she could run.

She heard the elevator rumbling up to this floor and felt her heart start to pound. Instinct, pure and raw, pounded in her veins.

'_Run_.' she told herself. '_Run and hide_.'

~ Bruce rode the elevator alone to the ICU wing. Alfred was downstairs getting something to eat and reported the Selina was still sleeping and apparently having nightmares. He clutched the bouquet of flowers he was holding and hoped Selina might be awake enough to see him.

Apparently the doctors had no idea what was wrong with her. She presented with fever and chills. She experienced hallucinations and panic attacks. They could find nothing in her system that would indicate anything harmful. They were at a loss. All that could be done now was to sedate her and keep her comfortable.

The news from Fox was only a little better. This Crane person was a brilliant mind who had spent most of his teens in a mental hospital. Upon his release, Crane had lied on his college entrance forms to cover up the fact he had been victimized by his father. Fox had the compounds of Crane's mind altering formula, and sent the lab drones to work on recreating it to derive an antidote. It was, Bruce hoped, the best plan to help Selina.

He arrived on the ICU floor to see it was dark and empty. True, it was almost midnight, but Bruce felt it was a disgrace to not have the front desk manned.

Before he could really think about it, his cell phone went off. A loud, annoying ring that broke the stillness of ward. He had to put Selina's flowers on the front desk before digging his phone out of his pocket.

"Shit." he whispered when he saw Vicki's name on the screen. He had completely forgotten about her. Too much had happened today and he was sure she was calling about the news reports. Those pictures of him and Selina were everywhere. It was why he had to wait till night to come and see her.

He answered the phone.  
"Vicki!" he said happily.  
"Don't Vicki me!" she huffed.

Bruce had to close his eyes in frustration. He wasn't used to women being mad at him.

"Why didn't you tell me you were dating that actress?" she demanded.

"Vicki, she's just an old friend of mine." Bruce said smoothly. He was looking around the ward and into each room. None of the patients looked like Selina. He spotted a team of nurses down the hall working on an old man. Yet, no Selina.

"Oh, I see." Vicki said sarcastically. "An old friend who you put your arms around. The two of you look like you're on your honeymoon!"

Bruce wasn't listing anymore. He spotted an empty bed with disconnected IV tubes.  
"Vicki, I'll call you back." he said to the phone.

"Bruce Wayne, don't you dare!" Vicki cried.

He hung up and put the phone on silent. He wasn't in the mood to fight with a woman just now. He could sense something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

"Don't hang up on my account." a voice purred from behind him.

Bruce turned around, fully expecting to see nothing less than the boogie man himself, and saw only Selina.

She was in her hospital gown and holding the flowers he had brought her. Her feet were bare and her hair had retaken it's natural curl from the fever she had been experiencing.

Bruce took in the sight of her, flushed cheeks, bright eyes and felt his heart flutter like it always did when he saw her.

"Selina?" he asked in surprise.

"Bruce?" she mocked him.

"You're feeling better." he nodded in shock.

"Much better." she said lazily.

She smelled the flowers he had brought and glared at him with suspicion.

"You brought these for me?" she asked.  
"Of course." Bruce said.

He wanted to take her in his arms and make sure she was real. The whole thing seemed so dream like just now. because of this, he held back. Something wasn't right. There was a look in her eyes that spoke volumes. It wasn't the wall she threw up when she was defensive, or the slight look of sadness for a lot childhood.

Her face was almost like… Ivy's just now.

Selina had a contented little smile of mischief that he knew all too well.

"Selina, you need to go back to bed and rest. I have the best doctors in the city looking after you." he explained.

"Always my white knight." she sighed. Her voice sounded like she pitied him.

Bruce had to laugh at that. Anything to break the tension between them just now.

"I try." he said with his well practiced _Bruce Wayne_ smile.

He expended a hand to her.  
"Selina, lets go back to bed and I'll call your doctor. You're looking a lot better. Maybe you can go home soon." he offered.

She glared at him.

"My white knight is offering to take me back to his castle?" she said mockingly.

He couldn't help but smile again.

"If that's what you want." he said. He could feel his cheeks grow warm. Something about the way she was talking made his skin grow very warm.

"What about your girlfriend?" she asked sweetly.

"She's a little mad at me. It's for the best." Bruce said and swallowed hard as Selina stepped closer to him on graceful feet. She was like a ballet dancer just now. A natural grace was in each step as she never broke eye contact.

In seconds, she was in front of him. Her lips close to his in the silent nurses station.

"Selina, you haven't been well, don't you remember?" he whispered. His lips were aching to kiss hers as she stood so close to him. All reason and logic were lost time him now. He felt dizzy in her presence and why was it so hot in here?

"Oh, Bruce." Selina said sadly.

At the sound of his name he kissed her. Her lips feeling like forbidden candy he had never been allowed to taste. Gone was the girl he had known and truly loved. This woman in his arms set his blood on fire. His hands were threading through her hair and he felt bests within stir to life.

"I would love to live you in your castle forever." she panted weakly when he finally broke away.

Bruce smiled happily. Both of them were breathing hard and her lips were puffy and red from his kiss.

She smiled sweetly, leaned back and punched him hard on the jaw.

Shock, more than pain caused Bruce to lose his footing and fall. He had never been hit by a woman before and was surprised she could punch harder than his martial arts instructor.

"But I'm not that kind of girl, so let's not pretend this is a fairy tale." Selina said hatefully.

She kicked him hard in the stomach and Bruce gasped and the feel of a rib breaking.

He tried to grab her bare foot, but she jumped free.

He watched, doubled over in pain, as Selina Kyle jumped head first out of a fourth story window.

**I know, I ripped off that last line from "Batman Returns" but it's a good line! VERY ****cat woman! **

**I LOVED the season finale of Gotham. I always wanted Fish to be a mentor to Ivy or Selina in the show. Sad the JPS is gone for next season. I think she could really MOLD the girls into becoming what they were destined to become. **

**I'm glad Barbra is fifty shades of Cray Cray. Hated that bitch. **


	4. Chapter 4

4.

~ Jim Gordon was getting used to the strange and unexpected. The strange and unexpected were normal and humdrum in Gotham. Had been for the past few years now. He stood at the edge of a broken window of the hospital room. There was an impressive view of Gotham from here. No word on what had happened.

"No body on the streets, no frantic calls to 911." Bullock said. "I'm not sure this is even a murder."

Bullock had somehow gotten even fatter and more slovenly.

"Except for the missing patient." Gordon snapped. "she was in ICU last night and is now vanished into thin air under suspicious circumstances."

"Room is under the name Jane Bennet. Early twenties." Bullock offered. "She was being treated for some kind of drug over dose."  
"Jane Bennet?" Gordon rolled his eyes.

Bullock scratched his ear. Clearly he didn't follow literature.

"Her uncle checked her in yesterday and last night the nurses came to do rounds to find a broken window and no sign of the girl." Bullock said.

"No sign of Jane Bennet?" Gordon repeated sarcastically.  
"Yeah." Bullock shrugged.

"Well, maybe her sister Lizzy picked her up." Gordon snapped.

"You know this girl? Jane Bennet a friend of yours?" Bullock asked hopefully.

Gordon let out a long sigh.

"The security cameras have nothing. Seems they were wiped out by an outside source. Whoever did it, didn't want us to know what our victim looked like." he said. "We have no picture of this girl coming into the ER, or staying here."

"I've got the nursing staff working with a sketch artists." Bullock offered helpfully. "If you know this Bennet girl and his sister, that helps."

Gordon shook his head. How could Harvey be a detective and be this dumb?

He looked out at the impressive drop to the street below. No one could have survived jumping through this window.

~ Bruce winced in pain and tried to control his breathing. He wasn't expecting a broken rib to hurt this much. Despite his night time escapades, he had never been seriously hurt like this. Not to the point where it hurt to even breath.

"It's broken." Alfred announced without preamble.

"Thank you, Alfred." Bruce snapped back.

His long time friend and butler placed a special high tech patch on the sore spot of Bruce's rib. It was one of Lucius Fox's new inventions. Designed to help bones heal faster. Bruce could already feel the heat of the patch activating and numbing the pain.

"Are you sure Miss Kyle jumped through the window?" Alfred asked.

Bruce pulled down a clean shirt over the patch and stood.

"I'm sure." he groaned.

Bruce had seen Selina jump through the window as though she were invincible. He had managed to scramble off the hospital floor just in time to see her running into the shadows of Gotham. The clear night seeming to swallow her whole. How she had managed to not only break through the glass and land uninjured on the ground four stories below, baffled him.

"It was like she was someone else." he said at last. "Her mannerisms were different and everything."

"Last I saw of Miss Kyle, she was sleeping. Are you sure?" Alfred asked.  
"Alfred I know what I saw!" Bruce barked. "Whatever was in that booby trap, has caused some kind of reaction. Selina jumped through that window with no fear. She attacked me for no reason. She wasn't in any danger and she chose to run away. She's not acting rationally. I have to find her."

Bruce was breathing hard at the end of his speech. It had been a very long, very frustrating night. First with Selina's grand escape and his broken rib. Then with having to break into the hospital surveillance systems, and erase the digital footprint of her stay there completely. He could have nothing that proved Selina Kyle was there. This was a much bigger problem now than just the gossip shows.

Alfred leaned away from Bruce and was silent.  
"I'm sorry, Alfred." Bruce whispered. "It's just… I wasn't expecting her to…"

"Have the last word?" Alfred offered with his smug little smile.

"Something like that." Bruce agreed.

His jaw still hurt terribly where Selina had punched him. He had been hit before, but nothing like this. When had she gotten so strong?

"Fox is still working of a cure. Hopefully it will prove viable. In the mean time, I'm going out on patrols. I have to find her. She could be anywhere in the city by now and she's in danger." Bruce said.

"Master Wayne, no one can survive Gotham better than Miss Kyle." Alfred reminded him. "She's proven that she can take care of herself."  
"Alfred, she's not in her right mind." Bruce argued.  
"And you've got a broken rib. It could have punctured your lung if she had kicked you much harder." Alfred retorted.

"The trail is still hot, I need to find her before she does something stupid." Bruce said.

~ "They found Harvey Dent." Bullock told Gordon.

Jim barely heard Bullock as he looked over the five sketches that five separate sketch artists had done of the mystery Jane Bennet. Gordon was always one to cover his bases. Even if it meant over kill. The nurses had remembered the pretty girl and were able to tell the artists every detail. It was a face he knew well enough.

"Where?" Gordon asked.

"Down by the docks. Where else?" Bullock laughed. "He says he doesn't remember a thing from the time he went into the interrogation room until he woke up in some ally this morning. The M.E. is with him now. Says it looks like he was drugged."

"Ivy Pepper." Gordon said coldly.

"How?" Bullock asked. "We were recording her interrogation the whole time. She didn't slip him anything. How did she drug him?"

"Not sure." Gordon said. "But we need to find her. We'll have to see Bruce Wayne first."

"Why?" Bullock asked.

Gordon held up one of the sketch artist's drawings of Jane Bennet.  
"Because I'm betting Selina Kyle is somehow involved in this mess and I'm certain Bruce Wayne would hide her."

~ Gotham was her home. The city cradled her better than any mother would have. Not that Selina had ever really had a mother to cradle her.

It was still dark out and her heart was beating wildly from her jump out of the hospital window. She had dove through the glass without a second thought. The fall had been scary at first, but she felt invigorated by it.

When she hit the ground, she started running. Her bare feet feeling like they were floating. As if the ground were really just a trampoline and she was jumping with grace and speed. Before she even knew what happened, she was miles away from the hospital. She could smell the river by Arkham Asylum and realized she was close to the Narrows.

Bruce would undoubtedly try to find her. Selina grinned at the idea of him in pursuit. Of him begging her to come back to him. He wanted to keep her safe and protected. Like those priceless vases he kept in that beautiful house of his. That was how he wanted her. Not free like she was now.

She looked over Gotham River and her eyes could see in perfect detail, Arkham Asylum. Although there were no light in the ruin of the island, Selina could still see the buildings clearly. It was as if she had night vision in her eyes.

She looked around the dark alleyway and saw how alive everything was. She could see the rats behind the dumpster. See the heat from the subway below. A dirty ally had never looked so beautiful.  
"What are you doing here?" a gruff voice demanded.

Selina wasn't surprised to see a disheveled and dangerous looking man walking to her. He looked slightly drunk, but mean all the same.

Instantly, she knew his type. She would always run away from a man like this. He was obviously a pimp. He was a very bad man. A rapist and an abuser.  
"Come here, girl." he demanded and tried to grab her.

It was as if she were a well trained dancer. Her toes extended and she pivoted away from him. A little smile on her face as the bad man realized she had stepped just out of his grasp.

"You come here now, girl. You're gonna be mine." he ordered. The way he said it, Selina could tell he was used to bullying women. Of hurting them badly with his fists. He wanted to hurt her.

She stepped away again. Only this time she slapped him on the face. Playfully, like a cat toying with a mouse. She didn't want to kill this man yet. She just wanted to play with him.

"Bitch!" the bad man barked at her and made another lunge for her.

Selina, her body more alive than ever, jumped away. A nearby brick wall providing an interesting escape as she ran up it in a vertical climb. She quickly flipped over the bad man and landed behind him.

He hadn't realized she was behind him and was searching the spot he had last seen her in.

"Hello." She called in a teasing voice. The man, befuddled at her antics, turned and was surprised to see her behind him.

She punched the man harder than she had hit Bruce. She didn't like to hurt Bruce, but she wanted to hurt this man. Wanted him to feel the same pain he had leveled on his own victims.

The bad man fell backwards and spat out dark red blood. Not the small about from a simple fight, but like an artery had be severed. Selina looked at him in horror and realized she had broken off part of his jaw.

The man, bad as she knew he was, whimpered at the sensation her was severely injured. He held his hand to his bleeding face and looked back at her with real fear in his eyes.

Selina smiled.

"What's wrong?" she asked him. The need to torment her prey was still very real and pleasurable. "I don't suppose you'll be bothering anyone else now."

She ginned as the bad man spat out his own teeth. The pearl white of broken teeth looked odd in the dark red blood.

He was chocking on his own blood now and Selina decided she didn't want to stay and see it. He wasn't long for this world now. No one would come and help him in this deserted ally anyway. Her feet, still bare but oblivious to the cold concrete, side stepped over the bad man. She was running again. Running into the heart of the narrows where no one would find her. Where she could hide from her white knight.

**You guys thanks for all the feedback. It really helps to know I'm on the right track and giving my readers what they want.**


	5. Chapter 5

5.

~ Batman drove slowly past all the abandoned buildings of the Narrows. What was once a thriving, working class neighborhoods and small businesses, were now dilapidated and given over to ruin.

The years of harsh weather, violence, gang activity and the occasional arson attempt, had made the buildings all look alike. A faded, sad grey. The sun had bleached out the painted letters on the sides of buildings. Advertisements from long before he was even born. It was no man's land. A place only the truly desperate would flee to.

In the Narrows, with limited power running to a handful of buildings, all the scum of Gotham ran to hide. There were plenty of places to lay low, and Batman was working to learn them all.

He had a lot of advantages when it came to the Narrows. Original blueprints and zoning orders showed him the tunnels and possible escape routs. Info red let him see when the street lights were out. He had non lethal weapons and means of escaping at his disposal. Still, the Narrows was a dangerous place to be in.

He knew Selina most likely would try and hide here. She had lived here and knew everything there was to know about this rotting, forgotten place. She had several hours head start on him and so far, a preliminary sweep was turning up nothing.

"Alfred?" Batman called to the on board computer. "Hospital checks?"

"No young woman fitting Miss Kyle's description has been admitted into any hospital, sir." Alfred's voice floated through the hands free phone. "Also, no police arrests."

"Thank you." Batman said darkly.

He drove by a sad ally by the river and could see Arkham Asylum in the distance. Selina was close. He could feel it. Her world was so different to the world he grew up in. The harshness of it was like culture shock to him. He felt bad that she had grown used to this place. Of having to fight for everything. Of never being certain of where she would be living, of where her next meal was coming from.

She was fearless and brave, he knew that, but she shouldn't have had to endure such a miserable existence. No child should.

Batman waited in the dark for a little while. It was starting to rain and the rats seemed especially bold in this ally tonight. He put the car in drive and silently slipped away into the night.

He never noticed the bloodied body of a very bad man slumped against a wall. The rats were eating his face off.

~ Morning at Wayne manor was always the same. Alfred cooked a simple meal and Bruce worked on his various projects. The butler never wasted time and energy in bringing Bruce a tray anymore. He never knew where to find him most mornings. Sometimes Alfred would find the young man in his father's study, other times in that dreadful dark bunker under the house.

Today, Alfred found him in Selina's room.

"Did you sleep here last night, sir?" Alfred asked.

Bruce was straitening the nicely furnished guest room. Preparing it for when it's occupant would come back.

"I didn't sleep at all." Bruce said darkly.

The young man arranged all the little souvenirs and gifts he had given Selina over the years that had stayed at Wayne Manor. Alfred wasn't sure why he kept trying to impress her with such trinkets. She liked nice things, but she didn't like gifts.

Bruce moved the delicate snow globe he had gotten her in Switzerland next to the exquisite antique geisha doll he had bought her in Japan.

Alfred knew she liked these things, but felt uncomfortable taking them from Bruce. She had never really been given thoughtful presents before. In her world, there were no gifts that didn't come with a price.

"Sir, I'm sure she's alright. We both know how resourceful she is." Alfred said for the hundredth time.

He didn't know how to comfort Bruce now. He could only reassure him that Selina was a survivor.

"Come downstairs, breakfast is ready." Alfred said.

The sooner things were back on routine, the better.

Bruce said nothing, but complied to Alfred's subtle demands. The younger man looked unhappy to be leaving the pink bedroom.

Alfred almost didn't notice the black cat slipping out of the shadows and perching himself regally on top of the bookcase.

"Dreadful infestation, sir." Alfred muttered. He wasn't a fan of cats. Especially this one.

~ "I'll go and get breakfast, sir." Alfred said once they were both in the study again.  
"Not hungry." Bruce said and collapsed on the couch. He felt useless just sitting here. He had prowled the Narrows all night looking for Selina and came up empty. The FBI, in their drug raids, had flushed a lot of the population out in just twenty four hours. Had it really been only a day since he had last been in the narrows? When Ivy and Fish Moony had tried to kill him. When Selina was exposed to that gas and when he burned down Ivy's lab.

The front door bell rang and Alfred left him alone.

Bruce, used to feeling sorry for himself, scrolled through his phone in the dark. Lucius had emailed him saying that if he could obtain the patient zero in question, AKA Selina, they could take a blood sample and possible treat her.

Bruce closed his eyes at the bright screen. He felt a headache coming on. If Selina didn't want to be found, Bruce couldn't find her. There was still the question of what exactly had happened to her. Why had she gotten better? Why had she hit him? What in the world possessed her to jump out the window like that?

Bruce could hear Alfred returning from the hallway and didn't bother to open his eyes to see him.

"Alfred, I'll need to get some of Selina's blood from the hospital and give it to Fox. They have to run some tests." Bruce called out to the butler.  
"Afraid we can't let you have any of Jane Bennet's blood, Bruce." a gruff, efficient voice said ins tread of Alfred.

Bruce looked up to see Gordon sidle his way into the study and sit down across from him.

"Gordon." Bruce said in mild irritation. He didn't need this headache right now.

Gordon produced a white piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it slowly.  
"Last night there was a bit of a ruckus at a local hospital. Seems a young woman went missing. Now, it seems that she jumped out of fourth floor window, however, I'm willing to bet that's just subterfuge for whoever took her out." Gordon said casually.

Bruce could tell Gordon thought he had all the cards. How little the poor detective actually knew.

"Have a seat." Bruce said and waved at the seat Gordon was already taken.  
"The young woman was registered under the name Jane Bennet. Her uncle, an older man with an English accent checked her in. When the nursing staff was asked to work with a sketch artist," Gordon handed Bruce the folded piece of paper, "This is what they gave us."

It was unmistakably Selina. Right down to the curls of her hair and pout of her lips. Bruce looked at the drawing and felt his heart turn over slightly.

"Alfred checked her in. That's true." Bruce said soberly.

Alfred looked shocked.  
"What happened, Bruce?" Gordon asked.

"Selina…" Bruce started to say. He pretended to chock slightly with emotion. "She called me last night. Said she needed me to pick her up. That's where those gossip shows got the pictures. You know she and I have always been close."

Gordon nodded.  
"Then what happened?" Gordon demanded.

"She woke up in the morning with a fever. She was very sick. Alfred took her to the hospital." Bruce explained as politely as he could.  
"Why the false name?" Gordon demanded.

Bruce sighed.

"We didn't want the press to find her. It was bad enough they had our picture. Vicki still won't talk to me because of it. I didn't want them to use her real name for whatever was wrong with her." Bruce explained.

"My idea, detective." Alfred joined in.

Gordon looked suspicious.  
"What was wrong with her?" he asked.

Bruce looked innocent and confused.  
"I don't know. I'm told the doctor's were at a loss to. That's why I'm having one our lab techs look at her blood work for possible answers. They do a lot of cutting edge medical research." he said. "When Alfred came back from getting something to eat, he saw the window was broken."

"We've been very worried, detective." Alfred offered. "Frightened some bad people may have taken her."

"Why didn't you call the police?" Gordon asked harshly.

Bruce looked guilty.  
"We didn't want this leaked to the press. We thought she would contact us before now. She always has." Bruce explained simply.

"Why did she need help? What was she running from?" Gordon asked.  
"I don't know." Bruce said with a shrug.

Gordon looked angry and glared at Bruce. The younger man never flinched.

"I'll be in touch." Gordon said. He stood and nodded at Alfred. "You'll be sure to call me if Selina makes contact. There are some questions I need answered."

"Certainly, detective." Alfred said with a little bow. "I'll show you out."

Bruce leaned back in his chair and listened to the footfalls down the hall. He looked at the police sketch of Selina and tried to imagine where she was right now.

~ Ivy was almost finished cataloging all the venomous plants at her disposal. Crane had set up his make shift lab and things were starting to feel more homey now.

They were in the store room of the botanical gardens. The crowds of people had already descended on the place for the daily tours and they had no choice but to hide in the forgotten rooms to do their work.  
"Good news, lover." Ivy cooed at Crane. "I can reproduce my lipstick with a few simple ingredients and the pheromones from the Venus de Venus plant here in the gardens."

"I'm not your lover." Crane snapped.  
"How unfortunate." Ivy sighed. "For you."

Crane was unfazed.  
"Do you think anyone tripped my booby trap back at the house?" he asked.  
"The box? I thought we were going to test that on Fish. We have no idea what it really does." Ivy snapped.  
"It's base properties are what gave you the immunity to the plant toxin. Allows you to breathe the poison gas and not sprout leaves. Even allows you to wear your little mind control lipstick without going crazy yourself." Crane said lazily.

Ivy slowly closed her laptop and looked at Crane.  
"Wait, that's what was in the trap box? Immunity to my poison?" she hissed. Her eyes wide in anger.  
"Perhaps." Crane shrugged. "Like I said, it was the base part of it. I also added some of my own psycho suppressant drug. Makes the drugged person more daring. Makes them a risk taker."

"And immune to my poison!" Ivy screeched. "Crane, you idiot!"  
"You wanted something that would harm Fish." Crane said calmly. "The compound causes fever and intense fear based hallucinations like you wanted. The patient would suffer greatly and die before achieving any kind of real benefit."

"And if Fish didn't die? If she was immune to everything?" Ivy laughed. "How long would she have kept me around?"

"Well, it's not important now. The lab was distorted and Fish is dead." Crane said.

Ivy looked thoughtful.

"That freak burned it down, maybe he was exposed to it." she said.

"It's been over a day. Maybe he's already dead." he said with a rare smile.

Ivy let out a giddy laugh and reopened her laptop.

"Well, if he's not, and my poison won't stop him, you won't have to worry about the freak killing you, Crane." she said.


	6. Chapter 6

6.

~ Gordon had learned the hard way to never trust Dent. Sure he talked a good game and would promise the world, but when his back was to the wall, Dent always copped out. That was why he had the nick name Harvey 'Two Face' Dent.

"I don't know what happened." Dent explained.

To his credit, the young DA looked like he had been through hell and back. His normal immaculate appearance had taken a beating and he looked rather pale and sickly.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Gordon asked.

Dent shook his head.

"The Ivy Pepper girl? The bank? Have the feds moved in?" Dent asked.  
"You don't remember?" Bullock laughed.

Gordon turned to give his partner an ugly look.  
"I'll just be down by the vending machines." Bullock said casually.

Dent shook his head.

"Honest, it's just a blur. What happened?" he asked.

"You went into the interrogation room with Ivy Pepper, talked to her all of two seconds and dropped all charges." Gordon explained.

"What?" Dent laughed. "After what we found at the bank?"

"Yeah, then you vanished on us." Gordon told him.

Dent looked horrified.

"Jim, you have to believe me, I don't remember any of that. I think I might have been drugged." he insisted.

"Dent, I was looking right at you both. She didn't slip you anything. Now it's too late. Even if Ivy wasn't in the wind, it's double jeopardy. We can't arrest her on the same charges the DA has already dismissed her on." Gordon told him.  
"I was rendered not mentally competent. What does my blood work say?" Dent asked hopefully.

Gordon shook his head.

"It won't matter, Dent." he explained. "You know we couldn't charge her again. It would never stick. We don't even have proof she was the one who drugged you."

Dent looked horrified.

"Jim, this will end my whole career at the DA's office." he said.

Gordon felt for him. Deep down, he knew Dent was a good guy. Way deep down.

"Maybe I can help you out." Gordon said in a hushed tone.

"How?" Dent said.  
"We can blame Ivy's release on a disruption to the chain of evidence and you were smart enough to catch it. The DA's office will think you're a hero for not letting it go to trial and wasting tax payer money. The Gotham PD had been known to lose evidence before." Gordon explained.

"What about the feds?" Dent asked.  
"All the more opportunity for the waters to get muddy." Gordon told him. "Proper procedure wasn't followed in securing the crime scene and you had to let Ivy walk. We can always bring her in on another charge when we have enough evidence."

"You can do that?" Dent asked hopefully.

Gordon gave him a dark look.

"It's not the first time." he said.

"Why? Why are you helping me?" Dent asked.

"I think one of your employees is involved with something. There was… an incident last night that I can't get my head around. It makes no sense. Tell me everything you know about Selina Kyle." Gordon demanded.

~ Dent had Selina's home address and contact information. Gordon had to smile to himself when she listed Alfred Pennyworth as her emergency contact. Smart move not giving out Bruce's private cell phone number on any official form. Gordon found her apartment in a surprisingly trendy part of the city.

How could she even afford to live in this building? The rents in this neighborhood were sky high. In Gotham, it cost a lot of money to live in a place with trees outside your window.

Gordon found her door was locked, but he quickly picked it. Lucky for him her apartment was on the top floor and no one saw. In a normal situation, he would have gotten a warrant to search her home. He had cause with the police sketch and Bruce Wayne confirming she was the girl from the hospital, but he wanted to play things close to the chest for now. He also wasn't sure how much he could trust Bruce these days. The boy he once knew was disappearing before his eyes. He used to think Bruce Wayne would grow up to be a very fine young man, but lately, a darkness had descended over him. One that Gordon couldn't see through.

Gordon heard the click of the lock and he smiled to himself. Her door swung open and his hand went to the butt of his hand gun. The lights were off and the gloom of the rain storm outside an empty apartment made it feel creepy. Her home was exceptionally nice. Hardwood floors, high ceilings and new appliances. Not even his ex girlfriend Barbara could have landed an apartment like this. He saw Selina had furnished her comfortable space with tasteful high end furnishings. Just enough to break up the loft into separate rooms.

Gordon finally put the pieces together that Bruce Wayne must have provided this place for her. She worked in the DA's office as a file clerk. Her pay couldn't be that good and living in the city wasn't cheap. She certainly couldn't afford the furniture, let alone the rent on a place like this.

"Must be nice to be a kept woman." Gordon said dryly to the empty apartment.

"It's rather boring." came a woman's voice from the shadows.

Gordon didn't have time to turn around before he was kicked in the face. The force of the attack spun him around, knocking him on the floor. He saw a flash of black clothing before her foot made contact with his jaw. He didn't even have time to draw his weapon before he was flat on his back.

He was more stunned than hurt by the sudden attack. His lungs searching for air and not finding any caused him to panic. He thought he was alone here. The apartment seemed so peaceful and empty. There was no sign another human being had been here for days.

He opened his eyes to face his attacker and saw Selina. She looked oddly beautiful in the pale light that came in through her windows.  
"I won't ask you why you broke into my home, detective." she said in an oddly seductive voice. A voice that was different from the one he had always known. She didn't speak like the street wise kid who just needed discipline and a good family. She spoke with an almost regal elegance. Like an old fashion movie star from the forties.

Gordon stared dumb founded back at her before his senses caught up to him and he realized she was the one who had knocked him down without much work. He was about to go for his side arm when, she stabbed his hand with a switch blade she had neatly concealed.

Gordon cried out at the sight of his own blood. Adrenaline preventing him from feeling any real pain yet. The vision on the blade inside his hand, sticking cleanly through to the other side, was one that would never go away. How odd it looked, and how surprising the situation was.

Selina covered his mouth with her hand and straddled his prone body with ease. Her knees resting on his arms to keep him from moving.  
"Hush." she said gently as he stared stupidly at his impaled hand. He felt another blade, a sharp and hungry blade tickle his neck. She was ready to slice his throat open. No one knew he was here, not even Bullock or Dent. No one was coming to save him.

He looked back at her with wide eyes. He had always been able to read people and could read Selina now. Se would do it. She was a killer. Her lips were curled into a smile and her eyes were like black pools of death.

What happened to the girl he knew?

"Let me guess." she whispered. "Bruce Wayne sent you to find me. He's worried?"

Gordon decided to play dumb. Her hand was still over his mouth, a blade was still at his throat. He nodded slightly.

"I see." Selina said. She looked vaguely annoyed. "You know those collectable dolls? The ones that are kept in glass cases and never played with? That's how Bruce wants me. As something to keep safe and locked away. A pretty little thing he can have and protect. It's all rather sad isn't? He lives in such a dream world. I hated having to hurt him. But I have business to attend to and it doesn't involve Bruce. I can't have him getting in the way."

Gordon was breathing hard. Her voice was cold and yet thrilling to hear. He didn't try to push her off him because the knife in his hand was starting to hurt now that the shock had worn off. He wanted to believe she wouldn't hurt him, but she looked ruthless. It was the same look he had seen on men about to be executed. Selina looked as though she has walked side by side with evil, and wasn't afraid.

To his surprise, Selina removed her hand from his mouth.  
"Go and tell Bruce not to find me. You can do that for me, can't you?" she asked seductively.

Gordon was about to speak when she leaned over him and kissed him. Her lips soft and warm. Her mouth opening up to him slightly and teasing him with her tongue. He felt a rush of heat through his body at the kiss and had to remind himself to breath once she pulled away from him.  
"Lovely to see you again, Detective." she whispered in his ear. Her breath warm and wet and made him remember how wonderful it was to be seduced by a beautiful woman.

The moment, odd as it was, was ruined when she pulled the knife out of his hand with a sharp jerk.

He screamed in pain and tried to grab her before she rolled away. He was angry now. Mad at himself for letting her get the jump on him, mad at himself for letting her threaten him. Now he was kicking himself because Selina had somehow gotten his side arm.

"You won't need this." she teased and tossed the gun down a convenient garbage chute by her door.

"You're under arrest, Selina. Assaulting a peace office!" he groaned in pain. His hand bleeding profusely.  
"I won't be done assaulting a peace officer if you try and follow me." Selina said cattily as she climbed up her kitchen counter top and opened a window.  
"Selina!" Gordon bellowed in anger. Her managed to sit up and clutched his bleeding hand to his chest above his heart.  
"Keep pressure on that." she teased him before doing a back flip out the window of the top floor, and onto the streets below.

**Again. Sorry about the long absence from posting. My job has be going in very early and when I get off, all I want to do is sleep. Thank you so much for all the feedback. I love reading them and if you have any requests for how you want this story to go, give me a shout out! **


	7. Chapter 7

7.

~ Bruce kept his mind off his troubles by watching old movies. His mother had been a great fan of movies before color. Mother and son both appreciated how simple and eloquent they were. No special effects, no 3D, just an honest attempt at telling a story.

His favorite movie, '_Casablanca_', was playing now on the large screen in the TV room at Wayne Manor. Normally, Bruce would be on patrols looking for Selina, but her trail had turned cold. Besides, there was nothing he could do until Fox called him about an antidote.

Bruce had obtained Selina's blood work from the hospital just few hours ago. As soon as night fell, he managed to slip in and help himself to the lab results. It was amazing what he could accomplish with a cloned key card and the ability to create blind spots with the security cameras.

Still, things were moving much too slowly for his liking. He would do another patrol before dawn, but his broken rib was hurting him. He didn't want to mention to Alfred that he was in pain. He knew his old friend worried about him a lot already.

Bruce watched Ilsa and Rick give each other secretive, meaningful looks across the cafe and was reminded of when he and Selina had ended things romantically.

Not long after graduation, they had a bitter break up. He had foolishly proposed marriage to her one night when they had snuck out to tour Gotham's rooftops. The views were amazing and yet, he couldn't stop looking at only her. He had thought they were in love. That they would run away together and his nightmare of lonely nights would be over. He could see a picture of their life so clearly once they were married. They would have a couple of fat, happy kids who were never exposed to the real world. His own parents kept him safely cloistered in Wayne Manor and that was exactly what he and Selina would do. Bruce would read to his son and Selina would play dress up with their daughter. Peaceful, quite nights at home. Exactly like it was with his parents before they were brutally ripped away from him.

He would have a life that was the opposite of the one he was leading now.

But she had looked at him as if he had hurt her. Her eyes growing wide at the sight of his mother's engagement ring. A look that wasn't surprise or happiness, but of horror.

She vanished from his life then. No explanation at all until a few months had passed and they had met again by accident. She had been a guest at a party he suddenly decided to attend. The other guests not knowing their connection and not seeing the knowing glances of guilt, hurt and betrayal that they gave each other.

Bruce closed his eyes and tried to let go of the image of Selina. Did she really despise the idea of being his wife so much? He was good looking, well mannered and most importantly… very wealthy. But she had rejected him and the whole idea of sharing a life together. Why didn't she want to make Wayne Manor her home? She had told hime many times that she loved it here. She had _proven_ in many ways that she loved him.

Bruce jumped slightly when his cell phone rang. He was pulled out of his thoughts by Lucius calling him.  
"Good news I hope." Bruce said soberly into the phone.  
"Interesting news." Fox said.

~ "It's been modified, but it's defiantly Crane's work." Fox said.

"I thought you said it was Crane's father's work." Bruce corrected him. His rib still hurt and he was running on almost no sleep now.

"While here, Crane develop some interesting pharmaceuticals." Fox explained and opened the lab up. It was strange being here with no one around. All the computers were still on, but in screen saver mode.  
"Look." Fox ordered and pulled up a series of graphs and 3D images on a large screen. Bruce let out an angry sigh at the complex chemical equations.  
"Just tell me." he said to Fox.

Lucius nodded and went minimized the complex screen.  
"It was a toxin. You're right about that. Why it didn't kill your friend, I don't know. It may be she had a natural immunity." Fox explained.  
"What about the increased strength, surviving a fall four stories down without a scratch?" Bruce asked.

"A modified form of Crane's drug. We were developing it for combat infantry. It increases speed, strength, hearing and eye sight. As a bonus, causes the subject to fell less restrictive about certain behaviors." Fox told him.

"What does that mean?" Bruce asked.

"Well, in theory, it would mean ground troops would have an advantage. Make them stronger and less afraid of the enemy. It was meant to be temporary, however. We can't have soldiers coming home as super humans. Crane's compound affected the subject on a genetic level, making the results permeant."

"Wait." Bruce interrupted him. "What does that mean for Selina?"

"From your friend's blood work, we've isolated Crane's compound. Along with another agent used as a stabilizer. I'm sure it was meant to kill her, and do so painfully. Yet, she survived and is now the first human outside a lab setting with these abilities." Fox explained.

"What was the long term effect of Crane's subjects?" Bruce asked. His heart was racing as he already knew the answer.  
"The compound makes them risk takers, Bruce." Fox explained gently. "They thought they were invisible, but they no one is bullet proof."

"They all died?" Bruce asked in disbelief.

"Their behavior became more and more erratic and out of control."

"Lucius, there has to be a way to bring her back." Bruce breathed. He could feel his heart start to beat an uncomfortable rhythm at the idea of his Selina throwing her life away in some foolish stunt.

"The other agent in the compound may yield something." Lucius Fox said hopefully. "It's from the genius Artemis De Rosa. Also known as the warrior plant because the ancient greeks thought it was the precursor to the shedding of blood during battle. It's not native to Gotham and there is only one place I know in city that grows such a plant."

~ Catwoman had only stopped by her old home to get a change of clothes and shoes. That apartment felt like it belonged to someone else entirely. As if she had the memories of some other Selina Kyle touring that empty apartment with Bruce Wayne.

She remembered how dashing he looked in that black wool city coat. His hair slicked back in nice waves and how he smiled at her.

She felt her heart stir slightly at the memory. She had always liked Bruce. Even when they were kids and he was clumsy and completely clueless. He had always treated her well and gone out of his way to show her kindness when she needed it most. Her white knight to the end. But she couldn't picture herself as his wife. Of being Mrs. Selina Wayne. She couldn't see herself living in that big house and hosting dinner parties for the mayor. She couldn't picture a life where she was expected to attend art openings and be a socialite. His world of money and power was so intimidating and strange. She could never fit in there.

In a way, she wished Bruce had nothing. Then they could rent a little apartment and make a life together. But it was something that could never be. So, she pushed that life aside and concentrated on her new one.

She felt recharged after stabbing Gordon. Not that she didn't like the man. He was honest most of the times and she knew he had protected her when she was young. Gordon would be a problem for her eventually, and she might have to eliminate him.

After she took care of Ivy of course.

Catwoman scaled the walls to the Gotham Botanical Gardens in one leap. Her legs effortless pushing her upwards over the brick walls faster than she had ever been able to scale buildings or walls before. She had run all over the city tonight and wasn't even out of breath. She had jumped over rooftops with greater ease than ever before. She was unstoppable and she was on the hunt.

There were only a few places Ivy would run to now that she had gone to ground and Catwoman had already checked most of them out. Gotham University was a large campus, but she knew Ivy would stick to the science halls and greenhouses. Then it was on to the old haunts they used to share. Ivy wasn't known for hiding well, and Catwoman knew that with her greenhouse burned down and nowhere to run, the Gotham Botanical Gardens was her best bet to try and replenish her supplies and save her research.

Fearlessly, Catwoman jumped into a tree by the wall and carefully spied into the greenhouse. She wasn't surprised at all to find Ivy and an uncomfortably tall and bony man working at a make shift lab table. Classical music was floating out of the open window. Ivy's attempt to no doubt baby the pants in her own way. Even above the music, the traffic beyond the wall and other noises, Catwoman's enhanced hearing let her decipher everything they said from her perch in the tree.

~ "Not much longer now and I'll have my lipstick back." Ivy said happily. She was pressing a blood red paste into a mold.

"Does it have to be so red?" Crane said in annoyance.

"Of course it does." Ivy said with a grin. "Red is the color for love."

"Do you really think it's you shade?" Crane said. "I think it's a tad garish."  
"Let's not be catty." Ivy snapped.  
"No." came a voice from the shadows. "Let's be _very_ catty, Ivy."

Ivy turned around and was greeted by nothing but shadows. Her beloved plants concealing whoever was lurking there. She was breathing hard at the sudden invasion into her little world. Her heart speeding up because she knew exactly who it was that was calling her out.

"Cat?" Ivy called out. "Is that you?"

There was no response from the darkness. The greenhouse late at night was like a forbidden jungle of sleeping plants.

The classical music droned on and enhanced the eerie nature this evening had turned.

"Listen." Ivy called out to the darkness. "I'm really sorry about Fish. What she did. What she made both of us do."

"You had a choice." Catwoman called from the shadows of a large magnolia tree. Ivy watched in horror as a form, dressed all in black leaped from the tree and vanished into another tree.  
"We should leave." Crane said uneasily.  
"And go where?" Ivy hissed.

"You had a choice, Ivy." Catwoman said from the shadows.

Like a sudden rain storm, Ivy was attacked from above. She screamed as the figure in black fell on her and pulled her to the ground without much trouble.

Ivy wasn't the fighter Catwoman was and quickly tried to flee. Catwoman, toying with her prey now, cut her arms with the switch blade she had used on Gordon just hours before.

"You tried to kill me!" Catwoman spat at her former friend.  
"Cat, please! Fish made me!" Ivy said breathlessly. She was cowering away from Catwoman now. Her high heeled shoes not heaping in her attempt to flee. The look in her attackers eyes sent chills through Ivy. She had always known Selina was tough, but this woman looked like some sort of animal.

"You left that booby trap!" Catwoman hissed and raised her switch blade up to cut Ivy again.  
"It was him!" Ivy screamed in horror and pointed to Crane.

Catwoman barely spared Crane a glance. The thin, tall man hiding in a corner. He was using his briefcase as a shield for when it was his turn to be attacked.  
"He's the one who rigged the trap!" Ivy said hurriedly. "I didn't do it!"

"Liar!" Crane shouted.

Catwoman didn't have time for this. She had other things to do tonight.

Just as she rose her switch blade up to stab Ivy for the final time, the sounds of breaking glass filled the room. Everyone stopped and stared at the scene of the Batman making his grand entrance by dropping through the greenhouse ceiling.


	8. Chapter 8

8.

~ Back at the station, Gordon found his clothes smelling like the garbage he had to search through to find his gun. Then there was the ten stitches to his hand from the stabbing. All this had lost whatever good feelings he had ever had for Selina Kyle.

"The girl from my office?" Dent laughed when Gordon told him what happened.  
The DA clearly didn't believe him about Selina's sudden change for the worse.

"She ambushed me." Gordon said curtly.

"You broke into her apartment." Dent said. "Sounds like you were trying to ambush her."

Gordon glared at Dent.

"I need to call Wayne. She's most likely held up at his place." he said. Dent looked slightly troubled.

"Selina and Wayne are… are they a couple?" he asked.

Gordon groaned.

"Because Bruce Wayne found me at the club and was asking all sorts of questions about Selina." Dent said.

"Dent." Gordon sighed. "I wouldn't peg all your romantic hopes on Selina Kyle. Bruce Wayne is the least of your troubles if you're trying to get close to her."

Dent gave him a hard, disbelieving look as Gordon sank into his chair. He jumped slightly when his phone went off. It was an older landline phone that the department pressed back into service to save money.

"Gordon." the detective answered and wished this old dinosaur had caller ID.  
"I know where Ivy Pepper is." came a gruff voice.

Gordon felt his blood run cold. He had heard this voice before.

"Who is this?" he asked calmly.  
"Gotham Botanical Gardens." the voice said. "You might want to bring gas masks."

The line went dead and Gordon was on his feet.  
"What is it?" Dent asked eagerly.

"Ivy. I think we've found Ivy." Gordon said as both men charged out the door.

~ "WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS GETTING IN THE WAY?" Catwoman shouted at their intruder. Batman rose to his full hight slowly. The light from the full moon cast an eerie glow around him that made Ivy and Crane shrink even further to the walls.

Catwoman, however, was not so impressed. Her hands were quicker than the freak and she threw one of her deadly switch blades right at his throat.

Batman had to admit, he wasn't ready for that. The blade hit the body armor, but still penetrated deep enough to draw blood. He pulled the blade out quickly and threw it aside. Selina's wrath was terrifying. Her eyes, once charming and alluring, were menacing and void of the girl he once knew.

Batman saw Crane and Ivy were attempting to sneak to the exits. He kept his eyes on Selina now. She was more of a threat to him then these two were. Besides, he had taken the precaution of having the greenhouse locked down. They were trapped here until Gordon arrived.

"It's over." he told Selina.

"It's not even close to being over, you _freak_." she spat angrily. She charged him then without fear and Batman wasn't ready for how light on her feet she was. How she produced a blade from nowhere and went for the throat.

His training kicked in and he dodged her attack, quickly grabbing her by the arm and trying to restrain her.

It was as if she were made of water. Her body moving so quickly, so freely, that she escaped his grasp and kicked him hard in the helmet he wore. Batman fell to the ground under the force of her hit. He could literally see stars as the tech inside the helmet faltered from the attack.

Instantly, he lost info red. His world going black as pitch without it. He could feel the seal around the helmet lose suction as well. Any gas that was used, he would be vulnerable to.

He was breathing hard and waiting for the helmet to come back online. He was blind to the world now. The only recourse would be to take his helmet off. What would Selina do if she found out he was Bruce Wayne?

~"Only a mortal after all." Catwoman said cooly.

She watched her foe kneeling on the ground as if in prayer when a sudden urge to kick him rushed over her. No one to ignore her instincts, she pirouetted in a perfect circle and landed an impressive blow to the freak's face. Not that it would have hurt him. He still wore the helmet. Like a rag doll, the freak fell backwards on his back. Catwoman was filled with the delightful urge to unmask him.

Ivy and that scarecrow looking friend of hers weren't going anywhere. The doors were magnetically locked. The pair of them scratching to get out out like frightened puppies.

Catwoman straddled the prone body of the infamous Batman just as she had done Gordon. His body alone was impressive. Hard, even without the armor he wore. She produced another sharp blade and saw the light of the moon reflected in it.

She would pull off the freak's helmet and find out who he really was. Then, she would slit his throat and let him bleed to death. A fallen hero for the people of Gotham.

"Let's see who you really are." she hissed.

Her fingers went to the helmet and an electric shock sent a painful jolt through her body.

She screamed and recoiled away.

Like a horrible phantom, the Batman rose up and stood over her cowering body.

"Down, kitty." he scolded.

~ Batman's info red had snapped back online as soon as the counter defense around his helmet was activated. He knew how painful that shock was, and knew now that it would be a permeant feature in all his helmets.

Selina whimpered slightly and for a moment, looked like the girl he always loved.

"You've been exposed to an unstable agent, Miss Kyle." Batman said slowly. "Let me help you."

"I've been liberated!" Selina hissed. "I just want my revenge on the one who tried to kill me."

"No killing." Batman said. "Gordon and his men are on their way."

"You're a fool." she spat.

"Come with me. I can help you. Let Gordon deal with those two." Batman said.

"No." Selina snapped. She managed to find her footing again just as red and blue lights flashed outside the greenhouse.  
"There's enough evidence here to put them both away for a long time." Batman said. "What will they do to you once they know what's happened?"

Selina looked torn. Her face a mixture of confusion and anger.  
"What has happened?" she asked in a soft, frightened voice.

Ivy screamed as a battering ram hit the door.

"SWAT team." Batman said in annoyance. "Time to go."

He was a little surprised when Selina, full of horrible furry one second, let him put an arm around her. She kept a malicious gaze on Ivy as the SWAT team broke down the door to the greenhouse.

"This isn't over, Ivy." She said.

Batman lifted the grappling gun and fired. He felt Selina curl into his body as their feet were pulled off the ground. The automatic pull of the line lifting them strait up in a beautiful dance.

~ "What the hell?" Bullock shouted outside the greenhouse.

The aging detective looked in amazement as two figures emerged from the glass roof of the greenhouse.

"Get a light on the roof!" he ordered to the ground crew.  
~ "Keep going!" Batman ordered as Catwoman balanced between metal and glass on the rooftop.

"You can't rush art." she snapped and jumped neatly from one rafter to the next. Any false move would send her crashing to through the glass below.

A spot light was on them now and the freak was urging her away from it.

"Just like old times." she teased him.

"Funny." he spat.

When they reached a steep drop, he shot another grappling gun to swing onto another rooftop. She quickly wrapped her arms around him and felt a powerful arm hold her close. He was strong enough to hold the both of them as they swung across to safety.

As soon as her feet hit the rooftop, she rolled away from his grasp. Not that it hadn't been pleasant. Their bodies fit together nicely.

"Such a wonderful collection of toys you have there." she said with an impressed little purr to her voice.

The menace said nothing. She could sense he was glaring at her in hatred.

"Sorry about trying to kill you. I was a little upset." she said sweetly. "I had planned to make Ivy suffer and you prevented that."  
"I can't let you kill her." Batman said.  
"Who said anything about _killing_?" Catwoman laughed. "I just wanted to hurt her a little."

"You need help. You've been exposed to a toxin that will eventually kill you." Batman said. "I can help you."

"I don't want help." Catwoman quickly. "I've never felt so alive in my life. Nothing can stop me."

"Almost nothing." Batman corrected her.

Like a bolt of lighting, something hit her chest and she screamed. Her world fell into a peaceful abyss of darkness and she didn't know or care what happened next.

~ Batman neatly caught Selina's unconscious body before it hit the ground. He hated using the stunning dart on her. It was an invention of Fox's that was meant for non lethal suppression. He wanted police to use them instead of guns because they rendered the suspect unconscious and yet wouldn't kill them. But it never got clearance from the government. Too dangerous.

He was worried what such a weapon would do to her, but her enhanced abilities meant she might not even be hurt by the stunner. She was breathing heavily though, and her heart beat and pulse was strong.

Batman held her for a second and watched how peaceful her face looked.

"Alfred." he said into his helmet. "Bring the car around. I've got her."

~ Gordon looked at the hole in the greenhouse celling.

"It was him." Bullock said. "The Batman."

"There's no such thing." Gordon said dryly. Both men looked up at the impossible hight from the ceiling to the floor of the greenhouse. "This was Ivy Pepper and Jonathan Crane. They already admitted to drugging the night guard to let them in.

"Jim, I know what I saw." Bullock said. "Two people dressed in black were on that rooftop."

"Did anyone else see them?" Gordon asked.

"I don't know. They were gone before we could get a light on them." Bullock told him.

"Let's keep this quite." Gordon said in a soft voice. "I don't want the feds to get wind of this."

"There are a hundred cops outside. All of them are talking about it. The vigilante." Bullock insisted. "Wasn't he the one who gave you the tip about where to find Pepper?"

"There is no vigilante!" Gordon snapped. "Tell our people to shut up about it. We got Crane and and Ivy Pepper. We've got enough evidence in their makeshift lab to send them to trial."

Bullock looked heart broken but Gordon's glare made him remain silent.

"Not another word about what you think you saw on the rooftop." Gordon said.


	9. Chapter 9

9.

~ "Ivy Pepper and Jonathan Crane's lawyers are both claiming insanity." Dent said with a smug little grin.

Gordon wasn't so amused.

"There isn't any chance they could get off on such a plea, is there?" he asked.

"Not a chance." Dent laughed. "All the evidence we found in that greenhouse. Our forensics say they were illegal hallucinogens. In fact, Lucius Fox of Wayne Enterprises is helping our boys try to figure out exactly what Ivy and Crane were cooking."

"I don't want any Wayne Enterprises employee near this investigation, Dent." Gordon said.

"It wasn't my call." Dent explained. "The judge ordered it."

Gordon looked annoyed.

"What about Ivy and Crane? Are they mentally ill?" he asked.

"Well, I'm no doctor." Dent said with raised eyebrows. "We're having our own specialist examine them separately. Ivy claims a neglected childhood, mentoring by Fish Moony and Gotham in general has turned her into an anarchist. Crane says he sees demons everywhere."

"Twinkie defense." Grodon grumbled.

"Look, Gordon. We've got this. Why don't you go home? It's been a long day." Dent offered.

Gordon looked at his bandaged hand.

"What about Selina Kyle?" he asked.

Dent shrugged.

"I can let you know if she comes into work." he said.

~ Gordon had rented the same small apartment for years now. The last time he had lived with a woman was Barbra, and things had turned south very quickly. He had moved out into this one room shoe box that could barely call itself an apartment at all. But it was all he needed, and he had adapted. He never had to worry about having a girlfriend over or keeping the place clean enough.

He had everything he needed, a tiny kitchen, bathroom, closet, a comfortable couch and a TV. He had learned to make do with just those few items since Lee vanished from his life. He was a confirmed bachelor now who no woman could love.

Maybe that was okay. He had to admit that it wasn't easy to love him sometimes.

These days, Gordon was too depressed to really keep his small apartment clean. Anyone would guess Harvey Bullock lived here. The dishes were neglected, there were case files on the old foot locker he used for a coffee table. The couch he slept on instead of a bed was surrounded by take out food packages.

Gordon pretended not to notice all this and instead slunk down on his worn leather sofa. He couldn't get the idea of Selina Kyle out of his mind. What had happened to her? Why was Bruce Wayne protecting her? Why did she attack him? Things were not adding up. Selina was always and enigma, but the past few hours had thrown everything Jim Gordon had ever suspected about her out the window.

Gordon remembered the contents of his old foot locker and shifted some case work off it. He rummaged though his mother's old photo albums and his father's scrap books till he found what he was looking for. Jim Gordon wasn't an overly sentimental man, but he had kept some things. There they were in the envelope he had never bothered to open after they came in in the mail. Pictures from a lifetime ago. When another Jim Gordon had been so careless and optimistic about life.

It was a warm summer day when he and Lee had taken Bruce and Selina to the beach. Bruce was actually smiling in these pictures and Selina was making silly faces for the camera. She had just gotten out of juvenile hall and in a few months time, would be gone again. But that day, when Gordon and Lee had decided to take the kids for a day out had been perfect.

Lee had looked her usual beautiful self. Often kissing him when he least suspected it. Bruce and Selina playing in the sand as if they were normal kids. How had things gone so wrong?

"Detective Gordon?" came a deep voice from behind him.

Gordon was ready for him. For the night time visitor that had chosen to haunt only him.

Gordon put his hand on his revolver but knew he wouldn't shoot. Instead the detective kept looking at the pictures in his hands.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up." Gordon accused.

"Ivy and Crane." the Batman said from the shadows of Gordon's little apartment.  
"Charged with breaking and entering. Once our lab is done analyzing what they were cooking, they will most likely be charge with domestic terrorism." Gordon said.

"Make sure Ivy doesn't kiss anyone. That's how her mind control drug worked. The lipstick." the Batman said.

Gordon didn't even look up at his visitor. Several times now the so called Batman had visited him. Delivering warning and clues to major crimes.

"That's how she got Dent?" he asked.

The Batman said nothing.

"Bullock saw you on the roof of that greenhouse tonight. You might want to be more careful." Gordon said.

"You might want to take your own advice, detective." Batman nodded at Gordon.

The detective looked at his bandaged hand.  
"I've been meaning to ask you about that. You seem to know what's happening around Gotham's underbelly. What do you know about a young woman named Selina Kyle?" he asked.

"Only that she isn't going to bother the city again." Batman said.

"What does that mean?" Gordon said angrily. He stood up to face the man dressed on in black. "What have you done to her?"

"She's safe." Batman said. "Just make sure Ivy and Crane don't get off on any kind of insanity plea."

"The mayor is talking about reopening Arkham Asylum. Again." Gordon told the darkness. "Therapy and mental health is all the rage now."

"Ivy and Crane are dangerous. They are not insane." the Batman said.  
"I'm supposed to take your word for it? How can I trust a man who won't show his face? Who thinks he's above the law?"

"How can I trust a man who bends the law to suit his own needs? Who's own corruption is as varied as any of the street thugs?" Batman asked.  
"I never-"

"Hide any evidence lately? Do any favors for Penguin? For Dent?" Batman asked.

Gordon froze.  
"What do you know and what do you think you know?" he demanded.

"I know enough." Batman said lazily. "I'll be in touch."

~ In a picture perfect village in Switzerland, a young woman registered as Emily McQueen opened her eyes to the bright sunshine coming in through her window.

Selina relished the few seconds of bliss that was gifted to her before she realized she didn't know where she was.

In alarm she sat up and peered around the room.

It was an odd little hospital room. With an ornate fireplace, luxurious and classical furniture; it was unlike any hospital room she had ever seen. But it was still a hospital room. Her bed was standard issue as were the devices regulating her.

Before she could ponder much longer about her surroundings there was the sounds of scrapping and a turning of a heavy lock. Selina could only watch as a security door, complete with a mesh window, was opened.

A large grumpy looking nurse came in, followed by a prim little man in a white coat.  
"Ah, Fraulein McQueen. You are awake, yes?" he asked in a pleasant little accent. He seemed kind enough, although the nurse looked rather grumpy.  
"I'm… what?" Selina asked.

The doctor smiled at her as if she were a troublesome child. He unfolded a stethoscope from his lab coat pocket and listened to her lungs and heart.

"Now, you've had a long sleep, yes?" he asked.

"How long?" Selina asked.  
"Very long." the doctor said pleasantly. "I've asked the nurse here to take you outside for some fresh air. The sun is out and you should enjoy it."

"What's happening?" Selina asked. "Where am I?"

"You've been staying here at a special clinic until I deem that you are well, Fraulein McQueen." the doctor said.

"That's not my name." Selina argued. "How did I get here?"

"All your questions will be answered soon enough. For now, I would like you to go for a walk and enjoy the sunshine.

Selina felt as week as a kitten when the nurse helped her out of bed. She was confused, but not afraid that she didn't know where she was.

She felt something was lost in her mind. A memory was trying to find it's way back out.

~ Bruce sat on a park bench outside of the small clinic. He watched Selina, blinking at how bright and cheerful the sun was, walking in the gardens with the heavy set nurse.

"Heir Wayne." the prim doctor said once they were sure Selina couldn't see them. Bruce pulled a recently purchased fedora over his brow a little better.

"How is she?" he asked.

"You will be happy to know the fraulein is recovering very nicely. She is still prone to the night terrors, but that will abate in time." the doctor said happily.

"The other issues?" Bruce asked.

"It seems Heir Fox's compound has worked remarkably well. The subject no longer has above average abilities. The tranquilizers are keeping her docile." the doctor explained.

"What happens if she goes off them?" Bruce asked.

The doctor looked unsure.  
"We have never treated a patient like this Heir Wayne." he said. "But the results are encouraging. I think it will be possible to reduce the tranquilizers and see how her behavior progresses from there."

What about the memory loss?" Bruce asked.

"Who can say if that will come back?" the doctor asked. "She seemed to possess no memory of her escapades. Her night terrors seem to involve running from something terrible."

"Anything else?" Bruce asked.

"Yes, when she cries at night, she always calls out the name Bruce." the doctor added.

Bruce felt a weight lift off him. A happiness flooded through him.

"When can I make contact?" he asked.  
"I think it is best we allow her to contact you. We must take into account the odd circumstances in which she came to us." the doctor added. "We can't have her believing you were involved."

Bruce stood and shook the doctor's hand.

"Thank you." he said honestly. "So much."

"You will be in country for a while longer, yes?" the kind little doctor asked.

"Until she's ready to come home." Bruce said.  
"What if she never calls for you?" the doctor asked.

"I have faith she will."

"I have to admit, rarely have I seen such fantastical devotion." the doctor said with a chuckle. "What makes a young man like you so loyal to this poor girl?"

Bruce watched Selina looking over the bright flowers of the garden. Her lovely face softening at the sight of their beauty.  
"Because…" he trailed off as if lost in thought. "Because I love her."

**~ Epilog ~ **

~ Inside the GCP holding cells, the walls were painted an obnoxious green. Not the pleasing and soothing green of a garden, or even pea green. No, it was a sickening green that would make anyone uncomfortable.

Ivy could feel the walls around her closing in at the sight of this ugly color.

Institutional colors. It was what she hated most after her mother killed herself. The constant beige, grey and dull green that covered every wall of every group home, police station and any other government run facility.

Ivy sat in the center of her little bench in her solitary cell. Dent and Gordon had insisted she be removed from the other inmates. The same went with Crane. Who knows what he was telling them just now.

'_Can't trust anyone_.' Ivy thought bitterly.

The GCPD had made her remove her make up and stitched up the deep cuts Cat had given her. Then it was off to her lonely little cell while she awaited her lawyer.

She saw the city appointed shrink as soon as she entered the building, and a little smile crept up Ivy's lips.

She was her age, most likely still a student on a city internship, sent down to take some notes and medical history before the real doctor came to question Ivy's sanity. She could be very pretty if she applied herself. She was slender and athletic. Her thick blond hair pulled into a messy bun that wasn't stylish or fashionable.

Her clothing was a horrible choice of miss matched plaid and tweed. Added to that, large grandma glasses obscured a petite face.

Breathless, the blond girl in the unfortunate fashion arrived at Ivy's cell.

"Are you Ivy Pepper?" she asked in a sweet child like voice. Ivy raised an eyebrow in mild interest.

"Only, I've never been here before and this place is like a maze." the girl said in her squeaky voice.

"Don't worry." Ivy said with a kind smile. "I'm Ivy Pepper."

"Oh good!" the blonde girl breathed in relief. "I'm with the Gotham City Office of Mental Health. I'm a student sent to take your history. My name is Harleen Quinzel."

**To be continued...**


End file.
